At KKELC, we take pride in our staff. We hire teachers and executive positions with early childhood education training that meet state and federal requirements for the positions they hold. Classroom teachers hold either an AA or CDA, with studies in Education, Child Development, or related areas, or be working toward these goals.
Being a local girl and mom of two kids, Patty was excited to see the first Early Learning Center come to fruition in Homer. After enrolling her son, Diego, she became an active parent volunteer, happy to be a part of a positive effort for and of working families in our community. With a strong desire to see Kachemak Kids succeed, you can now find Patty working tirelessly in her windowless cave and is always happy to have a visitor bring in a sunny smile.
Hanna was born and raised in Anchorage, and recently moved to Homer. This past summer she has spent her time de-limbing trees, peeling, milling and stacking them to make a log home in the deep woods with her boyfriend, Brandon Young. Her other summer pleasures include camping, hiking and fishing with friends throughout Alaska. Hanna has been an avid cross-country skier since she could walk, skiing for the University of Alaska and now for enjoyment. Also, during the lovely Alaska winter seasons Hanna plays hockey and recently found her love for broomball.
Hanna has her Associates of Science in Human Services from the University of Alaska Anchorage and is finishing her final year of school to receive a Bachelor’s in Human Services with an emphasis in Family and Youth from multiple campuses throughout Alaska. Hanna enjoys spending her days with young children, watching them grow and learn through all different experiences. She enjoys reading and coloring with the children and loves to see them smile and laugh. Hanna plans to continue to work with children throughout her life and feels honored to be a new member of the Kachemak Kids Early Learning Center family.
I was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil some forty plus years ago. I am the oldest of seven children. I have three brothers and three sisters. When I was very young we were poor. My father has only a third grade education. Early in his working years he was employed as an apprentice metallurgist. Quickly my father learned the skills of an accomplished metallurgist. He opened his own business became successful. Life for our family became much easier.
I attended a private school during my first twelve years. The last three years were preparatory years for entrance into a four-year college degree program for becoming a teacher.
I taught age group seven through ten years for five years. I then did substitute teaching of pre-schoolers for a teacher on maternity leave. It was here that I discovered my love for teaching pre-school children. After this substitute teaching stint of pre-school children I applied for a teaching position with Santa Casa de Misericordia da Bahia for pre-school children, where I taught for seven years. During 2004 I completed an art program for pre-schoolers that focused on introducing pre-school children to methods and techniques of the Art of the Masters.
It was here at Santa Casa that I met my husband to be in October 2006. He was with a volunteer group and I managed to have him assigned to my class. I traveled to Alaska in April of 2009 to join in marriage with my husband in Homer.
In September of 2009 I enrolled at Kachemak College in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program, where Lolita Brache and Jan Peyton were my teachers. Early in the program I told Lolita that I was interested in teaching and doing volunteer work. Soon afterwards she took me on a tour of Kachemak Kids and began volunteering soon afterwards.
In January of 2010 I was offered a part-time assistant teaching position. Today my primary responsibility is to introduce our children to art, especially Art of the Masters. The children are shown how to manipulate, explore and experiment with diverse materials and techniques. The objective is to encourage the children to use their imagination, let the creative juices flow.
Rachel Allmendinger was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. She started working with children when she taught piano lessons in high school. In 2002, she moved to Helena, Montana and attended Carroll College. Rachel received a B.A. in Social Studies for Secondary Education from Carroll and worked as a retail manager at a local health food store. In 2008 Rachel moved to Homer after meeting her husband–they were married in August of 2011 at the Wynn Nature Center. They just bought their first home on Ohlson Mountain and are enjoying a whole new world of snow shoveling and other awesome outdoor activities. Rachel substitute taught in numerous schools, including those in the Homer area. Before joining Kachemak Kids, Rachel was a student aide at Paul Banks from 2010 to 2011. Currently, Rachel is completing a Masters of Arts in Elementary Education via the University of Alaska Southeast’s distance program.
Rachel explores with and guides students toward connecting new information to previous knowledge and previous knowledge to new information. She finds the most joy in teaching when using humor, music and reading. Rachel always wants to know what children are thinking and why and looks for opportunities to ask questions of children.
